


Between The Lines: A Collection of Escape The Night Shipping Drabbles

by Bird_Of_Scarlet



Series: Love (And Everything In Between) [2]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Also an unbelievable amount if random AUs, But also, Drabble Collection, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Honestly idk what's gonna happen but it's happening, I'm gonna hope this was a good idea oop, M/M, Multi, Shipping, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, This is insanity, it's wild how much shipping is in this show, so much shipping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-07 12:42:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17366054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bird_Of_Scarlet/pseuds/Bird_Of_Scarlet
Summary: Ever seen a ship and wondered why it's even shipped in the first place? Or trying to explain why your favourite pairing works, but your not quite sure? Maybe you just like shipping, each to their own, I'm most of them so here we go anyway-A Collection of Drabbles about each ship in Escape The Night.Yep, each and every one.





	1. An Introduction

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [An Encyclopedia of Escape the Night Ships](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16552520) by [Bird_Of_Scarlet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bird_Of_Scarlet/pseuds/Bird_Of_Scarlet), [canufeelthemagictonight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/canufeelthemagictonight/pseuds/canufeelthemagictonight), [Willowcat88](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Willowcat88/pseuds/Willowcat88). 



> Aka:
> 
>  
> 
> _A Collection of Drabbles about each ship in Escape The Night._
> 
>  
> 
> _Yep, each one, because this author isn't dead._
> 
>  
> 
> _Yet._

This, my friends, is how I die.  
  
:)  
  
So, _shipping_. In this fandom, there is a lot of it, and when I say a lot, I'm not kidding in the slightest.   
  
As some of you may know, I'm also co-author  _An Encyclopedia of Escape the Night Ships,_ which looks into why the ships arise within the show, but what I'm going to attempt to do here, is show you guys  _how_ and  _why_ they work. From interesting character dynamics to headcannons and AUs to stuff we wish we saw in the show, in this book I'm going to try my best to write at least a short drabble for each and every ship in the Encyclopedia, highlighting the strongest qualities in each pair.  
  
Or it's just shippy fluff.  
  
Or both, who knows?

-

Before I start, here's a couple notes.

1\. Each ship's chapter in this book will line up with it's chapter number in the other book. So the second chapter of the Encyclopedia and this book will be Alison/Andrea Russet, and so on. For your convenience :D

2\. If you didn't pick up from that last point, I'll be doing these chapters in the same order as the encyclopedia, so sorry to the fans of ships in the latter half of the alphabet  ~~Oop Rofiya~~

3\. The ships in drabbles will be given a similar treatment to the one they get in the Encyclopedia. We review them for how they work as "romantic" ships, so these drabbles will be written as either romantic or implied romantic, though the degrees of how romantic they come off as may vary from ship to ship.

4\. To cap it off, most of these will probably take place in AUs, aftermaths, changes to the cannon story etc. Basically there will be very little consistency with timelines and stuff. Almost every chapter will be stand alone and individual, and by almost I mean some will probably share AUs.

-

So sit back, relax, please be patient with how random and/or spaced out these updates will be I'm sorry in advance, and enjoy the ride.


	2. Alison/Andrea Russet - Curiosity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship: Andrison, Aldrea.  
> Characters: Alison & Andrea Russet.  
> Season: 2.  
> AU: No specific AU, but still an AU.  
> Word Count: 520

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay its technically Friday for me but I told myself I'd post on Thursdays for this so HERE WE ARE
> 
> This is short and kinda crappy but oop here's to a long list of short drabbles :D

_Humans were... Something._  
  
Something unique? Yes. Special? Also, yes.   
  
Something to be kept? Alison never liked the idea of that.  
  
There had been warm ones before, yes, but she wasn't one of those. When humans came in, they didn't leave, and that was due to the simple fact that they didn't have a pulse by sunrise.   
  
But this one, whoever she was, whatever they saw in her.   
  
She was  _something._

Her father had simply deemed their new addition " _past time entertainmen_ t", and other than that, as long as everyone kept their fangs to themselves, he didn't usher another command. All Alison really knew was that she resided in the west wing of the mansion, up in one of the higher rooms.   
  
Particular members of her court scaled that staircase like clockwork each day, sometimes bringing gifts with them sometimes not. After making it in her best to avoid each and everyone one of Dorian's "Balls", she'd seemingly missed out on what all the fuss was about.  
  
So why shouldn't now be the time to catch up?

Heels clicked on the marble floor as she made her way down the corridor, head held high, eyes sharply fixed ahead of her. A couple of minutes and several unnecessary greetings later she arrived at the foot of the spiral. Setting a hand on the bannister as the other picked up her skirt, she silently ascended the steps, coming to the large door at the top.  
  
_Knock._  
  
_Knock_.  
  
"Come in."

Alison didn't know what to expect on the other side if that door, whether something mythical or blandly mundane, she didn't have a clue. Though when her gaze fell upon the figure standing over the table in the centre of the room, she couldn't help but lean towards the former.

The golden details of her outfit were first to catch the vampire's eye. Metallic beads and threading running down the olive green fabric; elegantly and effortlessly draped over tan skin. Rich, purple locks cascading across her shoulders and dark eyes that seemed to flicker along with the candlelight.

" _Hmm. I haven't seen you before."_  
  
The voice was enough to take Alison out of her trance, focusing her back on the human she was currently  _talking_ to.  
  
_Talking._ Humans were only around for an evening at a time, and she'd never cared before, so why should she care now? Why would the smartest of her kind lose her focus so easily?

"Alison. Daughter of Dorian. It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."  
  
"Royalty... Please, the pleasure is all mine,  _my lady_. To what do I owe his visit?"   
  
Alison managed to tug herself out of another oncoming haze, taking her mind away from the half smirk falling across the other woman's face. She needed to get back to the point.   
  
"Well, Miss..."  
  
" _Andrea, your highness_."  
  
" _Andrea..._ Ahm- it seems the others have grown quite fond of you, and for a  _human_ , I was wondering why that might be."  
  
"Well, your majesty... I suppose you'll have to find out for yourself."

 _Humans were definitely something..._  
  
And this one might be a little something more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah
> 
> This was v short I'm sorry but it's v late
> 
> One down a butt ton more to go
> 
> But this is mainly the type of thing that'll come from this book, short lil scenes in any Au or moment that centre around that chapter's ship. Some may be more romantic than others, and some may just be platonic while still showcasing how great the pairing is (this is only for ships involving Tyler/Joey/Manny and a girl, or ones that I can only see as platonic, but I'll try my best oh boy)
> 
> See you next chapter!


	3. Colleen Ballinger/Jc Caylen - Collison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship: JColleen  
> Characters: Colleen Ballinger & Jc Caylen  
> Season: 3  
> AU: STB [Spin-The-Bottle: basically the AU in Leah's STB fic and even though I've only written one one-shot for it, I have like, a dozen more planned so OOP. I love this Au I stg it's actually hella developed we just haven't written it down XD]  
> Word Count: 939

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday! Monday for me at least. Gonna try go for Bi-weekly so woot woot. Mondays and Thursdays if I can :D
> 
>  
> 
> Also can I just say this goes
> 
>  
> 
> Past event  
> -  
> Current event  
> -  
> Past event continued
> 
>  
> 
> Just if anyone confused about continuity n stuff

"AGH!"

"Colleen, you're gonna put a dent in the floor."

"Yeah... you're right."

Instead of jumping up and down like she _had_ been doing, Colleen just stood there, half slumped over, laser pointer still hung around her wrist, the red dot moving back and forth as it swung.

"Okay, first of all, you called me at two twenty in the morning to vent to me via powerpoint."

"That is exactly true and thank you for coming you're literally the only person who I could ask mainly because the others would either tell me to go to sleep and Roi is a part of this dilemma. Plus, you're the only person who wouldn't roll their eyes at me so thanks for that too."

"No problem- but secondly, don't you think this might be, maybe, just a little bit of _overkill_?"  
She stood up straight to face him, crossing her arms with a slight scowl.

"Caylen, this is the short version. And this is Operation Roila, it's never overkill."

"So you're telling me seventeen slides and counting is the _short version_?"

"I have a lot of opinions on this subject."

“Right, sit down, you look like you're going to combust into a ball of blood or glitter.”

“Both, bitch.” She chortled, tapping off the monitor and setting the laser down.

He scooted over, making room for her as she fell down beside him, her head flopping onto his shoulder, grumbling all the while.

“What? You tired?” He swung an arm around her shoulder.

“Just frustrated… Is any, _any,_ form of intimate- even like, intentional snuggling, is that too much to ask for. It sounds dumb but they're _so clearly into each other like DAMN._ ”

“I mean, they both just awkward about the whole dating thing.”

“I don't even mean dating- you don't need to date to be that kind of close- I mean it's a chain reaction, it's just that neither of them have the guts to start it.”

“Chain reaction, huh?”

“ _I have my sources,_ and trust me, when you've got that amount of romantic tension, the reaction goes more like BOOM. _”_

“You have a point, but I guess sometimes that kind of stuff is hard?”

“Oh yeah, where's _your_ evidence, you gonna back that up or something.”

“Eh, there’ll be a way.”

-

Colleen had taken great pride in training her cousin's new budgie to land on her straight friends' heads when she gave the command, "Hetero Getero", she found it hilarious. Yet now the trick didn't seem to be working.

"Why won't it land!"

She tried to herd the little bird towards Jc, who just stood there with his hands is his pockets as usual.

"Well Colleen, maybe the bird knows that _I'm not straight."_

The three of them just stood there, sharing a collective look of _wait what_ on their faces, before Jc cracked into one of his rare smiles, laughing.

"Oh my god your faces, Colleen looks like she's been hit with a wrecking ball. Yeah this was worth keeping, I've been trying to figure it out for a while but- Guys this reaction is priceless. Anyway, I'm asexual."

A collective chorus of "ohhhhh", "Yeah okay I see that ",”awesome!” and "dude congratz" sounded in the room came from Roi and Teala, but Colleen still stayed silent.

"Colleen, you good?"

"Yeah- Wait what about that time we-"

She rapidly clamped her hand over her mouth, stopping herself before she could finish her sentence. Roi was first to catch the slip.

"Wait when you what? Colleen what? GUYS WHAT?"

Teala set a hand on the boy's shoulder, giving him a look. Upon the realisation of what they meant he slowly looked down to the floor with an expression of "oh god". Jc and Colleen were basically his mom and dad friends anyway, which probably didn't help the situation.

"I mean I'm not opposed to it, I just, don't get that kind of attraction- Also Roi you might wanna get off the couch"

Even if Jc was joking, which they were highly unsure of, Roi sprung up anyway, letting out an unusually high pitched scream.

-

“Wakey wakey…”

Colleen blindly waved out, lightly smacking his hand off of her shoulder, before pushing most of her hair out of her face.

“You feeling better.”

“Better? Kind of. _Relaxed_? Yes. _Tired_? Also yes. It balances it out.”

“So, that's good?”

“Pretty good, yeah… Thanks.”

“You don't need to thank me, god, you’re not in a good place when you're frustrated, I just helped. Besides, it's Coffee Dad's duty to look after the Wine Mom when she needs it so just doing what I do. Speaking of coffee, do you wanna go get breakfast somewhere? A nice new place just opened around the corner.”

“Wow what a gentleman, and sounds brilliant. Just like, let me sleep for another two hours...”

“ _Colleen_!”

She tugged the fluffy blanket, currently keeping her warm, closer around her chest, snuggling into the material. Unsurprisingly failing to block out Jc telling her all the reasons she needs to get up right now.

“... I'll buy you breakfast.”

“The way to a girl’s heart, okay get out while I change.”

“Wait what- wow I'm going to need to wash that blanket-”

Colleen swiftly cut him off with a pillow square to the face, before he shuffled out of the room.

She strutted out a couple minutes later in the same outfit from the day before, hair tied up into a messy bun, rather than fully covering her face. She linked an arm in his, tugging him towards the door.

“Let’s go! Still your treat?”

“Always."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean y'all can take what happened in that one whatever way you want.
> 
>  
> 
> ~~I mean, uh, cuddles amirite???~~


	4. Colleen Ballinger/Roi Fabito - One-Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship: Roileen  
> Characters: Colleen Ballinger & Roi Fabito  
> Season: 3  
> AU: Non-specific  
> Word Count: 1355

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just saying I realised yesterday how unbelievably and hilariously chaotic these two would be like holy crap

Colleen watched the others strut away, frowning as they disappeared into the carnival lights. How did _no one_ want to challenge her? Even at a silly bean-bag toss. Sure they probably wanted to go on the rides, but couldn't they spare just a couple minutes?

She drummed her nails on the side of the booth, scanning the area for _anyone_ she could chill with, before a loud laugh rang past her ears. Round the corner came Jc, Roi and Teala, chattering amongst themselves.

_Perfect._

“Hey Roi! Fancy a game or two?”

The boy looked up, almost tripping over his own feet as he suddenly focused something else, other than walking.

“I mean, we were gonna go ride the Ferris wheel-”

“Awh, are you chicken you're gonna lose?”

He stopped dead in his tracks, his arms dropping to his side. Jc and Teala looked between each other before glancing back at Roi.

“No.”

His voice wavered.

_Got him._

“Then are you up for a game or what?”

“... I'm gonna beat you though.”

She beamed, holding up a beanbag for him as he sprinted over, solely focused on the challenge.

_Hook, line and sinker._

-

“...”

“Booyah baby! I'll take the squeaky hammer please. Thank you!”

She grinned, hopping up and down in victory, twirling around before bopping him on the head with an adorable squeak. Roi, on the other hand, was staring at the floor, his defeated expression practically unreadable.

“Well, I guess you'll be off to ride the Ferris wheel now-”

“ _New game.”_

“Hmm?”

He looked up, staring her head in the eye, grinning like mad.

“Whoever wins the most prizes by the end if the night wins.”

“And how about the winner buys the loser dinner some night as well?”

Jc went to speak up, before Roi stuck out his hand defiantly, nodding.

“Deal.”

-

"Yo do you guys want some food?"  
  
" _SHHHH I'm focusing!"_  
  
"okaythenwowsuityourself.Whatdidthechurrodotoyou?"  
  
At least half a dozen stalls in and they still hadn't stopped, tying neck a neck. If one fell behind they always managed to claw their way ahead again within a couple minutes. Jc looked down at the laundry-sack full of pint-sized plushies, moving them around to hide a small poop emoji that he swears was staring at him weird. When he glances to the side he sees Teala still standing there, a fairly concerned look on her face as she sips at her cola, a long bean-bag snake, that Colleen managed to trade a bunch of smaller prizes for, hung around her neck like an kind of feather boa. Just without the feathers.

"Doesn't this seem a little much?"

He just shrugged in response, trying his best to somewhat act as referee for this insane match. Then cans hit the floor, and from the looks of it that's another one for Roi, who's doing rings around Colleen with his hands waving like mad in the air. Jc pointed out the very confused carnival employee, trying to ask what prize he wanted, before Roi threw out enough moves to equal the start of a dance battle. He quickly received a decently sized Angry Birds plushie, showing it to the two as he skipped over, pointing out it's design.  
  
"Hey, guys look, it's Colleen!"  
  
He gently placed in the bag, as if it were fragile in some way, grinning at Colleen somewhat-offended-but-mainly-sore-loser expression.  
  
"Told you I had good aim!"  
  
" _Well let's see how you do at ring toss, Bitch._ "

The boy stuck his tongue out in response, half-crab-walking-half-wiggling over to the next booth, leaving Colleen to power walk in the same direction, determination practically radiating from her.

"Well Teala, I think it's safe to say we've lost him, I'd say your goodbyes now."

He had to admit, the look of immense concern on her face was oddly amusing. 

"I think I'm going to need another coke... Or at least a new straw."

-

"I might as well confess, I  _am_ a little bit terrified of this."  
  
"Well if  _you're_ terrified, what does that make me?!"   
  
"Probably on the way to death."  
  
Teala's head snapped around to him, the panicked expression only draining from her face when he offered her a look of reassurance.  
  
Despite this being her third new straw, the top was already pretty chewed up. They'd lost track of time at this point, all they knew was that Roi and Colleen could probably open a small toy store with the number of stuffed creatures they'd accumulated. By this point Jc had, at least two large bin bags full, and Teala was holding the laundry bag. When Jc had thought of bringing something to keep prizes in for the entire group, he couldn't have planned for this unless he could see into the future.   
  
Colleen was competitive, and Roi was always up for a challenge, and as funny as that could be, they big tended to get carried away.  
  
An example of this was five minutes ago when a very frantic employee asked them to move to a different stall after they almost won every one of the little fluffy key chain prizes there.  
  
And that was one of the so called ' _rigged_ ' ones.

"Heyyyoooo!"  
  
Teala seemed to practically jump out of her skin, though he could hear her gasp as Roi wandered over with a beanbag cat that almost fully obscured him from view.  
  
"I gotcha something!"  
  
He passed over the giant feline into incredibly accepting arms, beaming as Teala giddily clung to it.  
  
"Her name's Pebbles."  
  
" _Oh my god I love her already_. Thank you!"  
  
She pulled him in for a side hug, her other arm still tightly curled around  _"Pebbles"_.

"How are the scores?"  
  
"Dude, it's a tie. Don't ask me how, I have no damn clue. Plus we need to get moving to the diner now, Matt said to meet at nine- holy god you've been at this for over two hours."  
  
"Well I'm sure we can fit in one more-"  
  
" _No_ \- Colleen! We need to get going to the diner!"  
  
" _Scores?!"_  
  
"Tie!"  
  
" _One more game?"_  
  
"No!"  
  
_"Spoilsport_!"  
  
She sauntered over, arms folded.  
  
"Well, I guess we'll need a tiebreaker then."

-

"Roi, you've gone mad."  
  
"Insane."  
  
"Totally. I know you've done crazy stuff before but this-"  
  
"This is on another level-"  
  
"Roi we- we care about you, okay?!"  
  
"Roi as friendly dad friend I'd like to warn you that challenging  _Colleen Ballinger_ to  _this_ is going to end with you losing."  
  
"Really dude, don't you have faith in me?"  
  
"Listen to me.  _Dance. Dance. Revolution."_  
  
"And?"  
  
Jc just let his head fall to his hands. Colleen was anything dance, and therefore, Roi was about to get  _owned_.  
  
But sadly, it was too late.

 

 

Everyone had gathered around at this point, stacks in hand like it was the main event of the evening.

Colleen was flicking through the songs, while Roi hopped back and forth from one foot to the other, as if he was trying to sync up his eye-foot coordination for the game.

Suddenly, music blared through the speakers, catching everyone's attention.

"Watch and learn, Baby Boy, watch and learn."

" _Bring it."_

-

And bring it she did.

Not even half an hour later Colleen was having another sweet-victory milkshake, while Roi had slumped down at the side of the machine. Jc brought him a drink while Teala carefully wiped the sweat off his forehead with a napkin.

"How... How does she..?"

"Shhh, shhh it's over now."

He gratefully took the cup, chugging it down in a couple seconds. That, and a few deep breathes later, he'd managed to get his head around the fact that he'd just been utterly destroyed at a game of DDR, and that he somehow didn't expect that from _Miss_   _Colleen the Dancing Queen_.

"Is he okay?"

_Speak of the devil._

"Just a little worn out, he'll live."

"Thank god, he owes me dinner now."

" _Colleen_!"

"I'm joking! i mean he does owe me dinner but hey I'll settle for McDonald's, save him like twenty bucks."

She crouched down, patting Roi on the shoulder. 

"I'll beat you next time..."

"I'm sure you will buddy, I'm sure you will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *C h a o t i c*
> 
>  
> 
> Please comment! I like comments oop
> 
> See you all on Monday! <3


	5. Colleen Ballinger/Joey Graceffa - Memoirs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship: Joeleen  
> Characters: Colleen Ballinger & Joey Graceffa  
> Season: 3  
> AU: Non-specific / General Modern AU  
> Word Count: 843

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically platonic?? Fire away I mean- take it how you want

_Knock knock knock.  
  
Please be in._  
  
He _needed_ this, she hadn't said a word to him in the past month and now he was standing there, parcel in hand, right at her front door.   
  
_Knock knock knock.  
  
Come on Colleen._  
  
Footsteps echoed from inside, drawing closer to the door, before a pause that seemed to go on forever.  
  
" _What the hell, Joey_."  
  
"Colleen _please_ -"  
  
" _Go away_."  
  
" _Please_ open the door."  
  
For a second there was a brilliant moment where the door clicked open, but before he could say another word, the door slammed shut again. _At least it was an inch in the right direction._  
  
"Colleen I have something for you. Can I _please_ come it?"  
  
As if by some miracle, the door creaked open, and she slid back out of its way. Joey just stood there, unsure of what to do.  
  
"Are you coming in or what?"  
  
Quickly, he shuffled through the door, following her over to the main living room. She flopped down into the couch, glaring at him to sit down too.  
  
"Now, what's so important for the _Grand Mister Graceffa_ to show up at my house in person."  
  
" _Colleen_ -"  
  
"Just hurry up."  
  
The crisp, metallic red package felt suddenly heavy in his hands. Was the bow a bit much? Was this _whole plan_ a bit much? _Only one way to find out._  
  
He gingerly held the package out to her, noticing from the corner of his eye how she frowned at it, before taking it from him.  
  
"The _hell_ is this..?"  
  
As the paper fell away, Colleen's look of general distaste melted into one of soft confusion as she ran her fingers over the dark leather cover. Meticulously, she pried apart the bow that was holding it shut, and cautiously opened it up.  
  
" _What_..?"  
  
"It's a photo album. You always mention how much everyone's changing, so I gathered up as much as possible and put it all in there, so you can look back anytime you like."  
  
He couldn't even tell you what the look she gave him was, though thankfully, it didn't seem to be either disgust or hatred.   
  
Within a couple seconds, she'd started to fully examine her new gift, honing in on each image. He'd spent so long organising and categorising them, he could almost picture it himself.   
  
The first page was the only one with one photo, an image of their entire group. Everyone huddled together within the golden frame, beaming at the camera. He still remembers that day. They'd _all_ had fun.  
  
The next nine double-pages were dedicated to a specific person. Starting with Colleen, and circling all the way back to Nikita. Photos from some of their best (and comically _worst_ ) moments documented from over the years. Rosanna's dozen-layer cake that she somehow baked within one day. Jc losing his absolute _shit_ laughing after one of Manny's more- inappropriate- jokes. Roi's running-gag of a habit of getting stuck in random places (from the odd tree to a zorb ball). Safiya's- part weird, part fabulous, totally necessary- 'bad' makeup science experiments. Details from long ago that had been buried under fresher memories, bubbling back to the surface, vibrant and glossy in each metallic border.   
  
The next few sections consisted of general interactions between specific members of the group; Cute moments between Roi and Teala that the camera just managed to catch, Manny fawning over an otherwise occupied Matt, at least one photo of Nikita flipping every single person in their friend group off.   
  
The rest of the book cycled through a mix of group moments, random and _mostly_ hilarious selfies, and special achievements that were probably what an album like this was originally meant for. By the time Colleen reached the end, she'd brought her hand up to forcefully rub tears away from the corners of her eyes.  
  
"Is it okay?"  
  
"Yeah... Just, why- why are there empty spaces?"  
  
The main page to feature this was the tenth double page, just at the end of everyone else's featured spots.  
  
"I- I didn't I know if you'd want to use these."  
  
He carefully slid a large brown envelope across the couch between them, which she hesitantly picked up.   
  
Her shoulders seemed to lose their tension when she plucked out one of the many items inside paper case.   
  
A photo.  
  
Of him.  
  
Or of _them_.  
  
"You can either burn them or put them in. I mean, I'm fairly sure they're flammable-"  
  
"I'm _not_ going to burn them, _moron_."  
  
For the first time in a long while, he could help but beam. Shuffling closer towards her.  
  
"Truce?"  
  
He held out a hand, ready to pull it back if she went to push it away.  
  
"... _Truce_."  
  
One arm curled around the- now closed- leather album, the other finding itself shaking his hand.  
  
"So... Do you like it?"  
  
Colleen pulled her hand back, bringing the book out in front of her to look at.   
  
Then with a swift motion, she brought it up and firmly smacked him across the head with it.  
  
" _OW! COLLEEN WHAT THE FU-_ "  
  
"It's _perfect_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oop this was p cute to write tho ngl
> 
> Comments are always welcome!


	6. Colleen Ballinger/Mortimer - Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship: Coltimer  
> Characters: Colleen Ballinger & Mortimer  
> Season: 3  
> AU: Non-specific  
> Word Count: 697

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oop I'm hells tired so if this is crappy that's why because I CAN'T PLAN AHEAD 
> 
> I need to plan ahead!
> 
> Also it's Friday for me so oop technically a day late, sorry

"Doesn't this seem a little... _Drab_?"

" _Colleen_ , oh my _god_ , I'm going to kill you."

Even with the music blaring, lights going, and overall socialising, Colleen couldn't help but feel a little bored.

"I'm just saying Joey, a glitterball would've added an extra something-something."

"Listen, sis, if you're going to insult my planning skills then you can go somewhere else."

"Oh please honey, you should be taking _notes_ -"

Her speech cut off as something caught her mind.

"I know that face. What are you thinking?"

"Betcha I can get a date with a post-it before the end of the night."

" _What?_ Even for you, that sounds ridiculous."

" _Oh really?_ pass that pen and post-it here. Just you wait and see, Graceffa, just you wait and see."

* * *

 

Now, parties weren't necessarily anything out of the ordinary for Mortimer, but then again, this wasn't necessarily a normal party.

He'd only heard of Joey Graceffa's parties before, yes they were house parties, but even for a typically "small" occasion _,_ there had to be a few dozen people here _at least_.

After a while he'd ended up at the edge of the room, cup in on hand, the other taping away at his phone, texting his friend Calliope to see if she wanted to leave. Though, before hitting send, he managed to spot her seemingly half-arguing somewhat-flirting with a pale girl in a black dress (probably over the last cupcake sitting on the table) and decided she probably wouldn't want to be interrupted by a notification.

For a minute he considered giving Calliope the heads up and going home, before a figure seemed to just come in from nowhere, slipping in beside him.

" _Hey there_ ~"

"Hi."

Despite it being a basic human response, the word took him a second or so to finally get out. To say he was caught off guard by a _very_ pretty lady was one thing, to say he was somewhat in a state of awe at the fact this girl's smile beamed brighter than most of the lights in the room. And both were just true enough to be said.

He leaned a little more against the wall, grinning back at her. No time like the present to turn on the ol' _Mortimer Charm_ , step one, is she even available?

"You here with anyone?"

"Oh, no. I was just talking to a friend before I decided to wander, _very_ glad I did though."

Check. _Interested?_ Hopefully also check.

"So, what's someone like you doing at a party like this? Wouldn't you want to dance?"

"I have my priorities..."

Time went like sand through a sieve as they chattered on, laughing and flirting as the people moved around them. Things seemed to be going well enough, _thankfully_.

" _Colleen_!"

A voice broke through the crowd, a guy with silver hair bustling over.

"Hey- could I grab you for a second? I need some helpful advice."

"Sure," she turned back round to him, smirking slightly, "I guess I'll see you around?"

"Uh, yeah?"

She set a hand on his shoulder, leaving him with a farewell smile and a wink before disappearing into the crowd again.

_Gone._

_Colleen._

_Her name was Colleen._

* * *

 

What felt like ages of tapping at his phone again, for the first time in a while, a familiar face danced over to him.

" _Heyyyyyy_ Mortimer!"

"I really thought I lost you for a while, Cal."

'"Nope, I'm A-Okay! Also, that's Alli, I'm going to chill with her for a while, cause she's nice."

Calliope beamed, motioning to "cupcake girl" from earlier, wiggling back and forth slightly.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"So nothing's off limits- brilliant!"

" _CALLIOPE_ -"

"Also there's something on your shoulder."

Before he could ask what, she reached forward, removing whatever it was and handing it to him."

"Well... See ya."

He mumbled a goodbye, before fully examining what he now realised was a neon-pink post-it note, that had somehow gotten stuck to him. It was almost scrunched up and thrown away, without another thought, before a shimmer of swirled golden handwriting caught his eye.

All he could do was grin as he read the message, knowing exactly what it meant.

_Call me <3_

_-C_

_Well, it's not like he had any other plans..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oop constructive comments are always welcome! <3 comments in general


	7. Colleen Ballinger/Safiya Nygaard - Wanna Bet?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship: Safleen  
> Characters: Colleen Ballinger & Safiya Nygaard  
> Season: 3  
> AU: Non-specific  
> Word Count: 2520

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oop I might have gotten a teensy bit carried away with this
> 
> ALSO I'M LIKE 30 MINS OVER THE MIDNIGHT MARK FOR TUESDAY
> 
> AGH
> 
> I'm tired lmao what's new
> 
> Also like a bunch of curses.
> 
> I'm gonna go sleep, I'll probably regret this in the morning oop.

"Goooooooooood morning bitches! New year, same fabulous old us amirite?"

As much as Colleen  _really_  didn't want to get up this morning, she had to admit that getting to see her squad again  _was_  a plus of the post-summer-break-back-to-school-hell she'd grown used to. A chorus off  _whoops_  came her way as she entered the otherwise empty classroom that she'd called " _Home Base_ " for the past couple years, tossing her bag onto a chair as she slid up over the table beside Nikita, while Manny fixed up his makeup and Joey compared what seemed to be the trio's schedules.

"Dude, here."

She tugged out her own, handing it to him. The boy quickly shuffled the papers out of the pyramid and into a rectangle, carefully adding more notes to his list of matches.

"Isn't it supposed to be  _New year, new me,_  Colleen?"

"Well  _yeah_  but it's not like we're gonna get our shit together in two months. We're still the same people."

"Okay true. But if you're going to say it like  _that_  then we might as well  _try_  and make some " _new semester resolutions_ ", eh?"

"If you expect me to promise to give two _shits_  about geometry then you can kiss that idea goodbye."

"No- like," Manny looked away from his mirror, thinking his answer through, "Like, a personal goal for this year, classwise or not."

"What, like you finally telling that nerd you've got the hots for that you like him?"

" _Nikita_!"

"One, why the hell did I not know about this? Which nerd? Is he a theatre nerd? Math nerd? Film nerd?"

" _All of them_."

"Oh  _damn_ , well I don't even know him but if you don't marry him,  _I will_. And two! Nikita might be onto something."

A shout of " _what_?!" came from each of the trio (Manny's a  _little_  more frantic than the other two) and Colleen quickly held up her hands up, signalling them to let her explain.

"Each of us," she motioned around the square, "makes a bet. A challenge for the year. Something to spice up class time."

"Like that one time Alex Wassabi and Roi Fabito had a bet on who could throw the most shit at the back of Coach Jones's head while his back was turned?"

"Exactly. God, I was sitting behind Roi for that class and I'm fairly sure he went through like 75 paper planes. Jc almost killed him when he accidentally started to fold one of his doodle pages rather than a clean one."

Colleen quietly snorted, remembering the fact that alongside nearly facing Jc's wrath, he kept having to decline the ballpoint pens (and at one point a stapler) that DeStorm Power kept trying to pass him ( _quote, "it'll be better than planes. That guy's a creep anyway." unquote_ ).

"Did they get, like, a bunch of detentions for that?"

" _Yes_ , which is why we won't go that scale. How about... Everyone has a personal dare selected by the others, and the first one to complete it wins."

"Wins  _what_?"

"Hmm... Fifty bucks from each?"

"Wait, whoa, what are these dares gonna be?"

"Well you, Manny, have to ask out your mega-nerd."

"... Fifty seems fair."

"That's gonna take ages," Nikita scoffed, playfully kicking Manny's shoulder when he glared at her, "I'm in."

"Perfect! How about you Joey?"

"I'm down."

"It's settled then. Manny asks out his nerd. Nikita what about you?"

"What? My dare? Pfft whatever it is get your money ready-"

"You have do one random act of kindness for everyone in the year, and when I say random I mean you can't just kick someone over and then help them back up again, unplanned Dragun kindness."

" _Colleen Ballinger you little_ -"

" _Get your money ready~"_ Colleen grinned, doing her best Nikita impression, over-confident hair flip and all. Nikita just glared her down.

"Deal."

"Perfect~ Two down, two to go. Joey's turn!"

"Why me?"

"Why not, come on guys let's give him a good one."

Nikita was first to pipe up.

"Joey has to learn  _everybody's_ name."

"What? In the whole year?"

"Yup."

"Nikita, darling, you're being too soft on him. Full names."

"Still too easy-"

"What's my middle name, Joey?"

He went dead silent, clearly wracking his brain, before letting out a soft  _"oh shit."_

Colleen clapped, cheering. Then Nikita spun around to face her.

"And now,  _princess_ , I guess it's your turn."

" _Give me your worst~_ "

"Well then," the blonde cracked her knuckles, though for a second she paused, before a sly grin spread across her face, "how do you swing?"

"Huh?"

"Manny and Joey like guys, what about you?"

"Nikita, honey, if Joey and I are one-way doors, and you're one of those saloon gates that goes both ways, then Colleen is a revolving door."

"She wears her heart on her sleeve,  _literally_."

Joey swiftly leaned forward, tugging Colleen's sleeve back to reveal the braided-leather pink, yellow and blue bracelet around her wrist.

"Oh, damn that's cute."

" _Thanks_! I got it on holiday. Also touché Graceffa."

"Back to the task at hand, guys. Since you could probably get with  _literally_  any guy in the year, you have to get a date with a girl."

" _Pssh_ , easy."

"I wasn't done! We're gonna find you a challenge."

"And you should know that I  _love_  a challenge Nikita.  _Bring. It. On."_

* * *

 

"You like _Matt?!"_

" _SHUT UP. SHUT. TEH-FUH. UP_."

"We've been in this class for _two years Manny oh my gOD."_

Manny was rapidly trying to shut Colleen up, probably willing to go as far as throwing Colleen across the room if it dramatically lowered the chances of Matt, who was chattering away to Ro and Teala, hearing them from where he was at the other side of the room. Even if he  _was_ within ear-shot, he seemed focused enough on his conversation to not hear Colleen's revelation. Didn't stop Manny freaking out though.

"Okay, okay, okay, okay, I'm shutting up! Geez, you look like you're about to implode."

" _He's **right there**!"_

"Yes, I see him, he exists."

Colleen would've gone on another round of "make Manny awkward" if the door hadn't clicked open on the far side of the room. The four of them raced to grab their scripts, flicking through to the middle on an attempt to give an impression of productivity. Though somewhat to their surprise, it wasn't their teacher who poked her head through the door, but a girl with long, dark hair, who Colleen honestly couldn't quite place.

"Who the..?"

The four of them quietly observed over the tops of their books, watching as the girl followed Matt from the doorway to the lights' control panel, pointing the different buttons out to her on the cue sheet he'd been scribbling on.

There were a few seconds of general silence in the group before someone spoke up, speaking what was probably on each of their minds.

"Anyone know who the _hell_ that is?"

"Nope, zero clue."

"Seems to be friends with Matt."

The three of them turned to Manny, as if he had some kind of answer. 

"What- I don't know all his friend's names!"

"Well, that doesn't help." 

Colleen shrugged, letting her script fall onto her lap as she narrowed her eyes, trying to get a better idea of who this new person was. What she  _wasn't_ anticipating was for the girl to tilt her head to the side, looking dead at her from across the room. She frantically pulled the script back up in front of her face, crossing her legs and sinking further into her chair.

"Whoever the hell she is, seems serious enough."

" _Bingo."_

The three of them looked up as Nikita practically chimed, grinning from ear to ear.

"Colleen, you said you were up for a challenge, right?"

"Wait...  _Her?"_

"Why not? You gave us basically impossible dares, let's see you work your magic on this one."

Colleen paused, weighing out her options. Yes, she'd be lying if she said this girl didn't seem interesting, but when she'd already stared Colleen down within ten minutes of being in the same room, she wasn't sure if she was going to risk her bets.

"I mean, if you want to fork over your fifty now..."

_Nope. Colleen Ballinger does not give up easily, and she definitely doesn't give up easy over a ~~yes, very attractive, and tall, and pretty intelligent looking~~  girl._

"Sorry guys, I'm going to need that extra one-fifty to pay for lunch for two~"

* * *

 

"Well, see ya guys."

Colleen lazily waved goodbye to her friends, beginning the long trudge to her next class. As much as Colleen admittedly didn't like math, at least she was good at it. All it was really was formula and application, both of which she found pretty easy. The pro was, she'd easily be able to pass her class at the end of the year, the con, she was in a different class to literally all of her friends.

The door swung open, and although Colleen's first instinct would be to get as close to the back as possible, she noticed a certain dark-haired girl sitting a few rows from the front. She glided over, tapping the girl on the shoulder, smiling sweetly when she turned around.

"Hi, is this seat free?"

It seemed to take the other girl a couple seconds to process what Colleen had spent, most of which was spent eyes-narrowed, looking around the room at empty seats, before looking back up at Colleen with a look she'd put bluntly as _'wut?'._ When Colleen hadn't moved away, she probably clicked onto the fact that the girl was serious.

"Oh, of course."

She tugged it out from the desk, before going back to ordering her supplies on her desk. Colleen carefully sat down beside her, plucking her own books from her bag.

_Oh shit ,wait-_

"I'm Colleen, by the way. Colleen Ballinger." She held out a hand, which the other girl firmly shook.

"Safiya, Safiya Nygaard."

_Pretty name._

"Uh, thanks?"

_Shit did I say that out loud- shit did I say THAT out loud?_

No response. 

_Oh, thank god._

"So... I haven't seen you before, why's that? You're a friend of Matt's, right?"

"Yeah- I grew up near him and Ro, just moved back into town over the summer."

"Cool, well if you need a guided tour you can hit me up."

_Colleen stop talking oh my god Colleen stop. Don't "ehe" at your dumb half-pickup line. No. NO._

"I'll... Keep that in mind."

Before Colleen could embarrass herself even further, Safiya gaze flicked to something behind her. Colleen turned to see Matt, slowly sliding into the seat set beside them, clearly suspicious about  _why_ Colleen was there of all places. In the corner of her eye she could see Safiya shrug, before turning her attention to the teacher as he started the lesson. Matt, in the other hand, still had his eyes narrowed at Colleen, who flashed an innocent-as-ever smile at him, causing his look of questioning to turn into a slightly wide-eyed, but still solid,  _nope._

_Can't stop me now, Matty. Can't stop me now..._

* * *

 

Weeks trailed by as normal, and no bets had been won. Joey kept mixing up and forgetting names, Nikita almost decked Timothy Delaghetto when he made a remark about how rare it was that she was holding the door open rather than slamming it in his face, and Manny was just awkward. Needless to say, Colleen was the only one who'd gained any positive experiences from the dare.

If she'd known the formula for a bearable hour of calculus was half-paying-attention plus sitting next to a seemingly infinitely interesting girl, then she would've learnt it off by heart years ago. She'd bring a new fun fact to class each day, and even if Safiya seemed unamused, she'd sometimes spot the girl smile when she thought her partner wasn't looking. Yes, maybe it's because the facts were dumb, but knowledge is knowledge, so they're not a complete waste of time. Colleen couldn't help but find herself lightly holding onto what small exchanges they had whether it be a short wave when passing through the hallway, or another blunt  _"shh"_ from Safiya when Colleen came up with yet  _another_ math-themed pun. 

In the end, she kept wanting more, but Safiya was practically gone the second that bell rang at the class's end. On top of that, she had a bet to win. 

_She needed to up her shit._

She spent the rest of the day wracking her brain for ideas- before one finally hit her.

She knew how to solve a problem, it was just the getting there she sometimes found tricky,  _and_ due to a- ahm,  _certain distraction_ , barely scraped through on her most recent exam. Why not kill two birds with one stone?

Well, if all went to plan.

 

* * *

 

"Are you actually going to listen to what I'm saying or are you just going to look at me for the next two hours?"

Colleen beamed innocently back at the girl's increasingly frustrated expression. She couldn't believe that Safiya had agreed to tutor her in the first place, after the shit she'd been pulling for the past months, but here they were, sitting in the library with math notes sprawled across the large desk- like Colleen could give a  _crap_  about math right now.

She just glanced the girl up and down again, her head was lazily propped up by her arm, her signature grin spreading across her face.

" _I mean, you can't blame me, can ya'?_ "

Safiya deadpanned back at her for a couple seconds, before half-slamming her pen down on the table, shoving her seat back, and getting up. Surprisingly, she made her way around the table, taking Colleen by the wrist and dragging her up as well. Before she could ask why, the girl offered her a blunt response.

"We're getting a book."

She just shrugged, letting Saf lead her to the far corner of the building, stacks of random books piled on the shelves around them. They'd reached the end of the row before she let go.

Colleen's gaze aimlessly drifted over the different books, still pretty confused about why she was here in the first place.

"What are you getting-"

Before she could even finish her sentence there were hands on her hips, pushing her back against the wall, and lips firmly pressed against hers, cutting her off. 

After a solid two seconds of  _holy shit_  she'd managed to fully wrap her head around the fact that  _Safiya freaking Nygaard_  was currently kissing her, and naturally went back into  _go mode_. She reached up and linked her arms around the taller girl's neck, pulling her in even closer. 

The two only broke apart when air was desperately needed, but Safiya was still very much  _not_  messing around.

" _You_  are getting your shit together and actually paying attention to this work, rather than trying to hit on me, okay? Tell you what, you focus hard on this, and we leave an hour early."

"What if I  _want_  to spend another hour with you?"

" _Who said I'd be leaving?_ "

_Well..._

"Deal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I got very carried away with this oh wow.
> 
> Colleen: *strutting into the room* "Y'all owe me fifty each, bitches"  
> *regretful handover accompanied by "AIOW" screaming*
> 
> For some reason I wrote the last bit first and idk if it feels out of place its like 00:45 now so oop


	8. Colleen Ballinger/Rosanna Pansino - Guardians

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship: Roleen  
> Characters: Colleen Ballinger & Rosanna Pansino  
> Season: 3  
> AU: Non-Specific*  
> Word Count: 930
> 
> *idk where this came from lmao just roll with me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very sorry for missing the last update, coursework just rained down on me like a bitch oop have mom friends

"You know Sweetheart, when you said 'relaxing day at the beach', this what  _not_ exactly what I had in mind."   
  
"I  _did_  mention that they would be joining us."  
  
"Yes, but you  _didn't_  mention we'd have to supervise them."

A sigh radiated from the woman beside her, causing Ro to glance over. Colleen was still reclining on the sun lounger she'd brought down from the beach house, flicking through the latest fashion magazine as the corners fluttered in the breeze. While Rosanna had opted to bask in the sun, sitting cross-legged on a towel, her wife was comfortable relaxing in the shade of a large parasol, clearly trying to block out the giddy screaming coming from sand and sea in front of them.  
  
" _Darling_ , as much as I love your brother, he  _can_  be a pain in the ass and  _he didn't need to adopt so many kids."_  
  
"He only adopted  _four_ -"  
  
" _On top the three he already had_."  
  
"You know it wasn't- also  _watch your language,_  There are children here."

"It's okay, I've heard worse."

A soft voice, belonging to Teala, piped up from the other side of Colleen's chair. Much to her un-admitted embarrassment, Ro had forgotten the little girl was there, and quickly picked herself up to see what she was doing.

Teala had busied herself making a sand-palace under the shade of the parasol, sand sticking to the edges of her peach-pink sundress, her large cream hat drooping over her face, and a pair of Colleen's sunglasses perched on her nose.

"Where did you hear language worse than that?"

The girl suddenly went quiet, going back to patting at her castle.

" _Teala_..."

"I bet you five bucks it was the blonde sassy one."

Teala glanced up over the dark-rimmed glasses, nodding slowly at Colleen's statement, causing the woman to snort.

" _Called it!_ "

"I- I will talk to Nikita later... You know, neither of you needs sunglasses in that shade."

"It's called _fashion_ , Ro, isn't that right princess?"

Teala beamed, quickly pushing herself to her feet and spinning in a circle, flipping her hair over her shoulder and posing like some of the models in Colleen's magazine, while Colleen herself clapped away, speaking as if she were an announcer on the runway.

"And now, with the latest design for summer, _Teala_!"

The girl giggled, though the laughter turned to a panicked shriek of terror as a small claw came inches away to nipping at her nose.

"Look what I found!"

At this point, Colleen was screaming too, alongside Teala who was now curled up beside her, the girl's head buried in her hands. Rosanna took in a deep breath, keeping her calm as she turned to Roi, and in conjunction, the large crab in his hands.

"I'm calling them Kipper!"

"That's lovely Roi- _ohwow_ \- Now, _please_ go put Kipper back where you go it."

" _Awhhh_... Can't I keep them?"

"No."

"Not even as a pet?"

" _No_."

"Not even as dinner?"

" _Roi, oh my god, no!_ "

"Awhh..."

"I'll get you an ice cream later."

His falling expression lit up, signature grin bursting back into life.

" _Okay_!"

With that he turned on his heels and sprinted away back towards the rock pools, almost tripping a couple times on his way.

"I'm honestly surprised that one hasn't drowned yet today."

" _Colleen!"_

"I'm just saying. I mean, there's _six_ more-"

" _Colleen_."

"Okay, okay. _I love you_ and, therefore, I will stop."

"Thank you..."

Ro smiled softly down at her, watching as Teala resumed work on her sand castle.

"They are sweet, when you get to know them. Little angels-"

"Angels are a stretch-"

" _Lena_ -"

"But, they _are_ very nice."

Teala responded to the compliment with a bright thumbs up, her tongue blepping out from her smile.

A soft chuckle escaped from Rosanna's lips as she gazed across the shore, doing a quick headcount of their party as they ran along the beach, waves lapping at their feet. They were all something special, in their own ways.

Teala, the youngest, was also the shyest, though she was incredibly sweet when you made it past her shell. Roi was a bottle of unending energy and wonder, always full of questions that his father was more than willing to answer, most of the time. Nikita had a _bit_ of a temper, but she made up for it with her determination. Manny was a large teddy bear, and surprisingly soft for a boy of his age, not that it was anything against him, he was one of the ones Rosanna personally got along the best with.

Safiya was logical, and probably the most mature from the bunch, and Jc somehow managed to stay calm during almost every situation. Safiya and Jc seemed to have inherited their father's intelligence, and Joey- Joey was nice. Joey was _also_ currently buried waist deep in sand, but he was far enough away from the tide, so Rosanna wasn't panicking.

 _Yet_.

Colleen had managed to persuade Teala to go collect some nice shells for her grand masterpiece, gracefully rising from her seat to wrap an arm around her wife's waist, tugging her in for a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"You know I _love_ them."

"Where is this sentence going?"

"But if Matthew doesn't get back soon, so help me, I _will_ leave to get some wine."

They both laughed, sinking back down and curling up beside each other on the lounger, watching the waves go back and forth.

"This is _nice_."

"We should come here again soon then..."

" _Yeah..."_

 _"Without_ the kids?"

 _"Oh god yes, one hundred per cent_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always welcome! Positive ones preferably lmao love me please

**Author's Note:**

> First up, Alison and Andrea...
> 
> Here comes the start of a l o n g journey oh boy.


End file.
